THE BEST IS THE BEST: Why Hu Kexin of China Deserved Olympic Gold Dustin Newcombe At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Nadia Comenici created an iconic image in her dismount from the uneven bars. The judges called it perfect and gave her a ten. It was the first ten awarded in gymnastics at the Olympics in the modern era. She made history that night. She was 14 years old. Bela Karolyi was her coach. How the rules have changed! Nadia Comenici would not have made history in 2008. It’s not because the judging system has changed and the perfect 10 is no longer the standard. Instead, Comenici would not have competed because of the minimum age requirement. If by some twist of fate or fancy paperwork doctoring she made it into the competition, an eccentric and outspoken American coach named Bela Karolyi would cry fowl and call the Romanians cheaters. Without the perfect ten standard, Comenici’s iconography might have been simply great biography. But the new judging system does one thing adequately: it manages human error/favor. The age limit is another example of human error that needs changed. It’s arbitrary, discriminatory, and hinders greatness in gymnasts that peak young. Gymnastics is fickle; it’s a revolving door for the new and old. The physical and mental demands of the sport make injury likely and peak sustenance difficult. It’s rare that fans can follow their favorite gymnasts, like Nadia Comenici and Shannon Miller, through multiple Olympics. Age limiting might be well intended to reduce injury (physical and mental) among young female athletes. But at the end of the day, age limiting will not do anything to reform the problems it was created to reform. If these problems exist, blame bad coaches. Bad coaches don’t realize the limits of their gymnasts. Bad coaches push their gymnasts too hard. Bad coaches skim over fundamentals. Bad coaches don’t teach proper technique. Bad coaches don’t teach their competitors how to deal with the pressures of competition. Bad coaches create bad athletes. Bad athletes injure themselves. Bad coaches should be accountable. And young female athletes of any age should have the opportunity to excel. Whatever her age, He Kexin’s uneven bars routine exhibited a remarkable degree of difficulty executed with ease and near-perfection. To minimize her achievement is to minimize the achievements of Olympic gold medalists of all ages who realized the upper limits of their natural potential. The American women made no excuses for their silver medal; it simply wasn’t their night and the Chinese were better. All-around gold medalist Nastasia Liukin wouldn’t criticize the ridiculous tiebreaker that awarded her already controversial Chinese rival He Kexin the gold medal on the uneven bars; the system had already been good to her. I guess when you’re a gymnast, accountability becomes habit. As usual, leave it to the children in the arena to act like adults. Bela Karolyi clarified his outrage later saying that whether or not he agreed with the age requirement, rules are rules and everyone should obey them. I agree with him. I treated him a bit harshly in this piece. Dustin Newcombe August 22, 2008 .